


The Little Things

by TheJemi



Category: Stargate - All Series, Stargate Universe
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Drabble, F/M, Gen, Missing Scene, Missing home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-04-14 02:17:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4546392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheJemi/pseuds/TheJemi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the end of the day, they all had the little things that they missed. Or, five things that five people on Destiny miss.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Eli Wallace

Eli Wallace

1\. His mother. He knows the Air Force is taking care of her (TJ has had to reassure him repeatedly that General O'Neill will take care of it; that he's a good man who cares about what matters to his people, has to remind Eli that he is one of General O'Neill's people) but...he just doesn't want her to be afraid, or alone. And more than anything else in the universe, he just wants to get home to see her, one more time, just in case. Every trip with the stones pulls at his heart and crushes his hope. What if. He never lets himself finish the thought.

2\. His DVDs. He hasn't been able to see most of his friends since he left MIT (on top of that annoying no job thing) so he spent most of his time with his mother watching old movies. She used to reminisce and say she never had time for them – she was too busy at the hospital, that she was too tired, that she had misplaced them. All of them were mostly just excuses and it took him a while to stop listening. So once a week he'd go and find a copy of some movie that she'd mentioned (it had taken him several months to get his hands on all of them) but when he'd done, she'd been so happy that he didn't even care that he'd soon have to find two jobs just to pay for them.

3\. The park. There had been a park up the street from his house that he'd frequented with his parents as a kid, but hadn't had time to visit as an adult. After being stuck on Destiny for who knows how long, he think that maybe he should have gone for more quiet walks and just looked at the stars instead of flying through them.

4\. Having a pause button. He was good with games and this is the most amazing thing he could have ever hoped for (the awesome parts, not the near death stuff.) Then Young looks at him, barks out orders for things Eli can't do and doesn't understand, he really wishes he could step back, take a deep breath and collect himself. _But there are goddamn Aliens attacking the ship and the shield are failing_. He always wanted this kind of chance, always thought that he could handle it because he was so good with his games. He never noticed how much he needed that pause button. But...then it's over, and they're all alive and TJ smiles comfortingly at him at dinner and Matt claps him on the shoulder, singing his praise and he can't help but wonder if he really needs that button after all.

5\. Soda. Not because he's really all that addicted (anymore) but he misses the taste, and, really, anything's better than gruel and water. Except for maybe tomatoes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own 'em, but I don't think I could love them more if I did. An old story that I thought I would revamp - cross posted at FF.N, but now it has been updated to reflect the end of the series. I have a very special love for this show and these characters, so let me know if I've done them justice!


	2. Tamara Johansen

Tamara Johansen

1\. Fresh air. God, what she wouldn't give to just be able to get up and go jogging in the fresh morning air - when the word was still asleep and the sun was just coming up; if she were lucky her parents chocolate lab, Hugo, would be there with her. What she wouldn't give to go hiking with her father, just one more time before he got too old, just the peace and quiet around her. Instead, she was stuck on this ship - too important to be able to use the communication stones, too many injuries to let her go off world too often. She really thought that that planet had been where they belonged, that they would be okay. And then goddamn Everett had come and taken her back.

2\. Her apartment. Even though she'd had to get rid of it when she'd gotten the transfer to Icarus, she'd loved the lofty, brick walls and large windows. It had been a place for her to relax, to curl up on the window sill with a book, cup of coffee, a warm sweater and just spend an entire afternoon feeling warm and content. During the day it's not so bad, but at night, when the ship seems colder than usual and she only has her base jacket and the thin Ancient blanket, when Eli or Everett or Chloe or Lisa pull her from her sleep to check on someone...that's when she misses her sweater and windows the most.

3\. Real hospitals with real doctors. She's smart, learns quickly and for as long as she could remember she's wanted to be a doctor - but she isn't a miracle worker. She isn't Colonel Carter, can't make solutions appear where there are none; she isn't like the Doctor Fraiser that she'd heard some much about, she wouldn't be able to stare down General O'Neill and laugh about it; she isn't as brilliant as Doctor Keller, could never be. But when Eli comes in because he'd been too close to an electrical surge, or Vanessa may have sprained her ankle, or Dale needs some help with breathing exercises, she realizes that even if she doesn't trust herself, they do. And that's the important part.

4\. Girls poker night. She'd been told that the tradition had been started in the early days of the Atlantis expedition and had been brought back by a Lieutenant Cadman and furthered by Colonel Carter. She, Lisa and Vanessa had played a few times with the Colonel (when they'd been Earth-side, and then the few times that the Colonel had been able to visit the base) but mostly, on Icarus, it had been them and a few of the civilians, even Camille had joined once. But now, watching Vanessa glance Chloe and Matt, she wonders if they could ever have that again - if the time will come when she has to choose between them. Not between military and civilian, because that choice she knows she can make...but between friends.

5\. Her sister. Sara and her hadn't always gotten along - they were only three years apart, but Tamara had always felt that she was living in her sisters' shadow, despite being the older of the two. Sara was shorter than her, had never had anything less than perfect grades, and Tamara thought, a whole hell of a lot prettier than she was. She'd spent her whole life being jealous, but it wasn't until Sara had asked her to be her maid of honor at eighteen that they'd become close. No as she was able to share an easy laugh Chloe over some stupid little thing, she starts to think that this is what it should have been all along, and she regrets it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always rather loved TJ - poor girl had a lot going on right from the start. I still wish we had gotten some resolution. Let me know what you think! Scott's up next.


	3. Matthew Scott

Matthew Scott

1\. Football. God, does he miss football. He had tried hard to forget his faith long ago, and a buddy of his at the Air Force academy had suggested football. It had been love at first sight. After that first afternoon at a Broncos game, he made it a point to be someplace to see the games. Even getting the games taped and shipped out to Icarus hadn't been as bad as this. When he finds out that Brody is an avid Broncos fan too, they spend almost a week arguing about draft picks (because he knows they'll miss those) and all of a sudden, the bold division lines that had separated the ship have started to blur themselves.

2\. Restaurants in general. Not because he misses cheeseburgers all that much (even though he really does), but because he wants to take Chloe out on a real date. He wants to take her someplace nice; someplace where she gets to wear a pretty dress and he can to open doors and pull out her chair, because really, he is a gentleman at heart. But it wasn't just the fancy places he missed. Sometimes, when they were alone he'd tell her about O'Malley's, where they could just go and find a dark booth, maybe play some pool and just have fun and the longing in her face makes him want to take her that much more.

3\. O'Malley's, specifically. Not because he likes to drink much, but it wasn't about that. It was someplace he could unwind after work; hell, someplace you could go with your coworkers and bitch about your boss. A tradition for all SGC recruits, one he was more than willing to accept. It was somewhere he belonged and it was a tradition he belonged to, and it made him proud in a weird way. But there are no bars on a ship lost in some forgotten part of the universe. There is no Greer looking at pretty girls (not as openly, at least), there is no TJ hustling him at pool (now she just looks sad and scared all the time), there is no place to just go and relax with friends. They're his family and he really just wants to be normal. He likes to think that when they get back to Earth, he'll get the chance to take Eli so they can have a drink together. 

4\. Going to church on Sunday mornings. He didn't go as often as he'd liked; shit, he didn't feel as comfortable as he should, but sometimes just the knowledge that he was there in a pew made him feel at home. While he was training with the SGC, he'd gone as often as he could, still looking for redemption that he couldn't find. Once, the day before they were supposed to ship out to Icarus, he'd even managed to drag TJ along.

5\. TJ's smile. He knows it weird, but he also knows that she's a beautiful women, and despite that, he'd never really found himself attracted to her, (which was admittedly rather odd for him.) She was in the academy with him, trained with him for the SCG, and they'd been friends for a while now. Almost family. For a long while it had been just them. Basketball games after dinner, jogs in the morning, movie nights when they could sneak them in. They had their own duties, their own lives, but they still had each other's backs and the whole base had known it. Lately, though, that little TJ spark had been missing. Oh, she smiles at Chloe , at Greer when he brings food to in infirmary if she's been too busy to go to the mess herself, and laughs at Eli's jokes at dinner in the mess. He knows what's wrong, but he can't help her. God, how he wants to help her; he wished he knew how. There are so many things he wants to protect her from, so many things he wants to hide her from but he can't, and it's killing him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one changed quite a bit from my original thoughts, but Matt was a hard character for me to get a read on. I always wanted to see more of what life had been like at the base (TJ, Matt and Greer had to have been in the same training batches, given their ages) and how they all fit. Let me know what you think!


	4. Chloe Armstrong

Chloe Armstrong

1\. Music. It was the only reason she'd really tolerated going to clubs in the first place. Dancing was fine, but deep down she wasn't really a party girl. It was the music that made her go to club after club. Her father had taught her to play piano when she'd been just a little girl and had loved it. He would often play her a song or two when he'd had trouble sleeping, and she would play the CDs herself when she got older. When she told that to Rush, during one of their many late night talks, he'd been surprised, hadn't thought that she'd be interested in classical music. When she got back from her month long stay on the planet she didn't think she'd have trouble sleeping. After the fourth night with no sleep (and a short unintended nap while trying to help TJ do inventory) an iPod and docking station appeared in her room, as if by magic, and Chloe thinks that may have been the best night's sleep she's had since she was four.

2\. Clouds. She had taken for granted being able to just look up at blue skies and see them. There would be no laying in a park or a bench with Matt, looking up at the sky and trying to guess what the clouds looked like; there would be no ducking under jackets or overhangs and kissing in the rain while it seemed like every ounce of water on Earth fell down around them.

3\. Being her father's aide. It had been a blessing and a curse trying to live up to him, but at the end of the day, she'd always felt like she'd accomplished something, had always felt like she had made a difference. It had been her idea that had led them to Eli; she grimaced. She loved Eli dearly, but that had been what started them on this terrible chain of events. Maybe she shouldn't have pushed for that idea, after all. Because of her, they were stuck on this ship, no matter what Rush had done. Because of her, Eli can't be there for his mother if she gets sick. Because of her, everyone was miserable. But then Matt reaches for her hand and the butterflies start up, and she can't convince herself that maybe it wasn't supposed to be like this.

4\. Friends, or so she thought. Her former friends. She'd felt betrayed by Celina and Josh, yes, but the fact that they didn't really seem to care about her father was what had really sent her over the edge. She'd been friends with Celina they had me met in ballet class at the ae of eight and she had dated Josh for almost four years. Looking at it now, though, she didn't think she'd ever been truly in love with him. Seeing them together had been the hypothetical straw. The one thing she'd been sure of had been their friendship and in the following days had found it hard to find her balance. She didn't know who she was without being the Senator's daughter, without being Celina's best friend, without being Josh's girlfriend. But then Sergeant Greer tipped his hat to her in the hallway, giving her a small, affectionate smile. At dinner, when Matt and Eli were joking around, TJ nudged her and gave her that 'Boys. What are you going to do with them' eye roll that every woman seemed to know. Then Eli snuck a tomato into her bowl while Matt distracted her with a kiss as TJ laughed. Then she realized, they didn't care who she was as long as at the end of the day she was just Chloe.

5\. Strawberry ice cream. It had always been her favorite, which had made her an oddity amongst her chocolate and cookie-dough loving friends, but she didn't care. There was nothing better than fresh, homemade strawberry ice cream. When Lisa showed up early one morning, a bowl a fresh strawberries in hand, Chloe couldn't help but smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's Chloe! Only one in the original set left. Tell me what you think!


	5. Nicholas Rush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even Nicholas Rush can get homesick, sometimes.

Nicholas Rush.  
1\. Operas. He enjoys his iPod, yes, but sitting in a room listening to a small piece of metal does not compare to the opera going experience, with a full orchestra and high ceilings and plush chairs. He misses his tux, the champagne, and listening to Gloria play her violin. He had liked being the invisible one in their relationship during those events; he loved being able to watch her face light up doing what she truly loved. There had been no demands of him there, no equations to solve, no students whining about heir exams or their proofs; just him and his thoughts, just being able to watch his wife. It was the only place he really felt he had the right to brag, she had chosen him after all, some son of a shipyard worker, when she could have easily married anyone. Now, listening to Brody and Park debate something or other (he really wishes that they'd just shut up and go away) he wishes that he hadn't taken it for granted.

2\. Books. He'd never had much patience for literature; he'd been on a scholarship and was therefore not really permitted to take classes outside his given field. Oh, but Gloria had loved them. All kinds of books, too. Back in their house they'd had an entire wall of books (used, old things, with cracked spines and worn covers) that she'd wanted to read before she died. She had read every day when she'd been sick. She'd made it through ever book except one, and he carried it with him everywhere, ultimately unable to part with it. In the end, he had been too busy, trying to solve the secrets of the Stargate, too busy trying to be the genius who could solve the unsolvable to be with her when she'd left. Someday, he promised himself, he'd finish it.

3\. Coffee. Not because of his caffeine problem (he refused to call it an addiction, but that was part of his problem being nice, that withdrawal) but because it was a good ice breaker. He'd never been very good at meeting people (shocker, there) or he'd never had time or they'd just been too arrogant for his liking. But when he'd made his way to Stargate Command, working with people had been a must. He and Mandy had bonded over coffee, and he'd had several enlightening conversations with the ever wonderful and quirky Samantha Carter as they sat in the mess and enjoyed a cup. Sometimes Doctor Jackson would join them, sometimes it was Rodney McKay (and he was much easier to deal with when they'd both had coffee and lots of it.) He felt disconnected from everyone without it. But then Lieutenant Johansen has a quip ready for his sluggish scientists (is she the only one not going through a withdrawal of some kind? Must be nice) and sends a little conspiratorial wink his way and suddenly, his chest feels a bit lighter and his day isn't so hard.

4\. Chess. If coffee was his way of making friends (if one could call it that) chess had been way of making problems fit together. Everything seemed to be so much simpler when he was playing chess - whatever answers were eluding him seemed to appear out of nowhere. His father - rest his soul - had taught him to play when he'd been only four, told him that if a man were decent, had any sense of honor, then he played chess. The chess set he'd learned to play with had been in his family for at least a hundred years, all smooth wood and hand carved ivory pieces. He wishes it was here with him, not stuffed in some portable storage unit. He's resigned himself that it doesn't matter if he has one with him here (he's much too busy to play, after all) but then Lieutenant Scott sheepishly mentions over dinner that he'd never learned to play, that his father had loved the game but died before he'd been able to teach his son how to play. Suddenly, almost before he knows what he's done, Nicholas finds himself carving little pieces out of wood. He tells himself that it's because he misses it, but deep down, he knows that Lieutenant Scott is as decent and honorable as they come, and he this is the only way Nicholas can think of to wave that white flag.

5\. His Certainty. He'd been so sure, so certain of so many things in his life that he wasn't sure when he had stopped and started wondering. He'd been certain that he could make something of his life, that he was among the best and the brightest (which h had been, he'd just had to work like a dog to prove it.) He had been certain that he'd never love another woman besides his Gloria, and they'd be together for all time (which was still sort of true, he guessed.) He'd been certain that it was his destiny to unlock the secret o the Ninth Chevron (and then Eli had swooped in and done it for him.) He was certain that being on Destiny was his destiny and that was that. But then he'd been taken by the blue aliens (he'd still managed to leave, somehow.) But then Chloe had been stranded with Lieutenant Scott and Eli on some planet, with no possibility of being rescued (just because they'd all been lucky was no reason for him to forget that very frightening possibility.) But then Lieutenant Johansen was going to have to raise her baby on this ship, without her family (he knew it had to be hard on her.) But then Camile had been stabbed with a screw driver (he knows Greer is just as shaken about that as Camile is.) Sitting at the control consol, still reeling in the aftermath of paranoid hallucinations brought on by a space tick, he suddenly doesn't feel so certain in dragging the poor, innocent people into his destiny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we have the last in this set, Dr. Nicholas Rush. He was a hard one let, me tell you. He's the final character for this set. Let me know what you think!


End file.
